Dangerous paedo who abused up to 80 boys ‘effectively jailed for life’ after serious sexual assault

John Sykes sentenced to eight offences of indecent assault on a male which took place in the 1990’s (Image: Cleveland Police)

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

A father has finally seen justice served decades after a monstrous paedophile attempted to rape his son before leaving him for dead.

Pervert John William Sykes has been described as a dangerous sexual predator who claimed to have abused up to 80 young boys.

Already serving an indefinite sentence of imprisonment for public protection for child sex offences , today the 53-year-old was sentenced for two serious sexual offences and a string of indecent assaults against a young boy in the 1990s.

He will now effectively be in jail for the rest of his life.

Speaking to The Gazette after the hearing, the victim’s father said: “This conviction has opened up many years of hell for me.

Read More

In mitigation at Friday’s sentencing hearing, Paul Cleasby said: “In terms of mitigation, there really can only be credit for plea. Many of the counts come from his own confession.

“The defendant was asking to wipe the slate clean.”

Mr Cleasby said Sykes’ upbringing had been “far from conventional” adding: “Clearly he is well below what would be thought of as average intelligence.”

After the case, a spokesman for the NSPCC charity said in a statement: “Sykes is a serial child sex offender whose sickening crimes will have had a hugely damaging impact on all his victims.

“Child sexual abuse can have devastating consequences and it’s important that the victim in this case continues to receive all appropriate support.

“He has shown tremendous courage in speaking out and we hope today’s sentence provides some level of comfort.”

For help and support children can contact ChildLine on 0800 1111 or by visiting www.childline.org.uk and adults with concerns about a child can contact the NSPCC helpline in confidence on 0800 808 5000 or via help@nspcc.org.uk.